I’m getting REALLY sick of the WTSO offerings with Jonathan Newman wines, particularly when sold with his ratings (all of which are, obviously, over 92pts).
Isn’t there a monumental conflict of interest here, when the person rating the wines is also the distributor of the wines?? How can this be Kosher?
I did write to WTSO with my disappointment and continuing annoyance with it, but they keep throwing it out there.
In a time when closeout wine is widely available, they could try a little harder. Also, I can’t help but think that Mr. Newman might have some connection to WTSO, although, that’s simply a guess, based on the nearly 50% rate of JN rated/reviewed wines they sell, no factual basis.
Shows what I know. I just always assumed that Newman was nothing more than a shill for WTSO and ignored his reviews. Was I supposed to take them seriously?
Agree that he should drop the ratings nonsense (not at fan of the WL ratings or those of any retailer/distributor with a direct interest). Although I haven’t met him personally, friends who have describe him as very passionate, well educated and a decent business man with no shortage of ego. Also been told that he’s offering some respectable close-outs using the techniques he honed at PLCB. WTSO and his operation seem like a natural match.
If I don’t know the wine, I take a look at cellartracker. I’ve had generally good luck with WTSO and their pricing is usually quite good. My one complaint about their not holding wine for cooler shipping temps has been addressed.
Agreed - I’ve had some GREAT deals from them, but only a few.
It’s just this huge quantity of wines rated by (and presumably provided by) Jonathan Newman. To me, it is ethically void, and it grinds me each time I see one come in, making it less likely for me to buy from them in the future.
Yes, the emails have been increasing but I still like the idea of being able to order a small quantity with no tax or shipping so if it’s a dud, no big loss.
I have only bought maybe 5 times from WTSO. I’ve never seen a Jonathan Newman review, because I only open maybe 1-2% of their emails. There are a load of emails, but the one redeeming thing is that they list the name of the wine in the title. So I open for 1985 Cuvee Charlie, Mumm Cremant, etc and just delete rest. If their emails were the more standard titles (“A great vintage Champagne,” “QPR 05 Bordeaux,” etc) I would have dropped long ago. But not so irritating if I can delete w/o opening.
I have had some great deals from them in the past. I have used them at least a dozen tmes or so always with good results
Penfolds St Henri’s for $29 comes to mind. The zero tax and ship is nice indeed.
On the fail or two I have come across, I feel the upside is much larger than the down, because in the end, there are worse things in life than a $17 bottle of cooking wine. Unless you consider 3 bottles of that cooking wine worse, than I still stand my ground.
There has always been the ‘mystery’ of who was involved with WTSO. This one makes sense. I know Jonathan has chimed in before here, and it might be a good time for him to do so again.
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